Thursday, October 9, 2008

One of the most bizarre patterns in the NBA is that teams tend to stockpile players with the same skillset that aren't necessarily locked into a particular position. The Hawks essentially employed this strategy for five years prior to last year's draft. Our next group of teams in our continuing preview coverage is comprised of teams that seem to have a lot of players with no discernible position.They don't buy into your traditional roles, man. Just keep your square attitude to yourself, friend. They play by the beat of their own drum. They won't walk down your lighted path, they wander through the dark. They howl at the moon, man!

They also very, very rarely play defense.

You'll notice some bad defensive teams. You'll also notice a lot of teams that are in year 1 of the rebuilding process. The Nets, for example, are a favorite of mine. Devin Harris is my new Joan of Arc. Leading the hordes against impossible odds. But look at it. Trenton Hassell, Yi Jianlian, Bobby Simmons, CDR. Josh Boone, Sean Williams, Eduardo Najera. The team is essentially Harris, Carter, and Co.The Bucks? Has anyone figured out what position Charlie Villanueva plays? At all? Is Bogut a legit five, now? We've settled that? Luke Ridnour, true point? At least we know what Michael Redd is. A machine gun.

Atlanta has long been known for its clusterfriction at the three. Luckily for them (FALSE), Josh Childress is no longer part of the problem. But they're still embedded with combo guards and wings, though Al Horford is change you can believe in.

Golden State somehow went form a really interesting way of playing a ton of guys with the same skills to a bunch of guys with the same skills that probably aren't very good together. But they'll be passionate, so they've got that going for them. There may not be a team who's 1 through 7 players are all so close in style, skill, and on-court personality.

But to start, we have to start with the ruins. The remains of a failed empire that tried cloning bad problems, only to find that essentially, that's the definition of cancer. And so we begin our next preview section with the New York Knickerbockers.